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| Reception
at the School in Abeih, where the Syrian Protestant College was founder |
"The
Birth of the American University--A Journey of Knowledge Originating in
Abeih" was the theme of a meeting of the AUB Mount Lebanon Alumni
Association and the Abeih Heritage Association early in October. Held
in the Beit al-Yatim Al-Durzi Hall in the village of Abeih, the occasion
included a tour of the former location of the University and a dinner.
After singing the Lebanese national anthem and AUB's Alma Mater,
Usama Shehayyeb, president of the Cultural Committee of the Mount Lebanon
Alumni Association, gave a welcoming speech. "The origins of the
American University of Beirut are vague for many. It was established in
1843 in Abeih when the Evangelical missionaries," along with inhabitants
of the village and the mountain, united
to form the Evangelical School of Abeih.
This ultimately evolved into the Syrian Protestant College. "As such,"
he said, "the American University of Beirut was born."
The president of the AUB Mount Lebanon Alumni Association, Samir
Abu Samra, said that President John Waterbury should be honored as the
one delegated to rebuild and renovate the University. "He revived
both stones and people of AUB," Mr. Abu Samra asserted. He thanked
all those who contributed to making this "historic" meeting
possible. Ms. Raghida Jaber spoke on behalf of the Abeih Heritage Association,
and Mr. Nadim Hamza described the relationship between Abeih and the West.
Commandant Nafidh al-Ahmar spoke of the cultural effect of the
Syrian Protestant College. Following a talk by Dr. Ryad Ghannam, President
Waterbury discussed the changes at AUB. Programs, he said, have been restructured
"to give all incoming undergraduates a chance to take at least a
couple of classes in the humanities, in science, math, and technology,
and in the social sciences.
We are convinced that a broad undergraduate liberal arts education
is invaluable since it enables students to acquire the analytic skills
and habits of [the] life-long learning they will need to be able to compete
successfully in the twenty-first century." The president went on
to give a survey of campus construction and the financial aid and scholarship
funds the University is trying to acquire through various fund raising
campaigns in order to make the University a place with more sophisticated
services, to equally serve, all students who want to study.
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